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Woops, was informed that this kind of post needs to go in Trope Finder instead of Ask The Tropers. Just posted it there as well. You live and learn :)

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Hello tropers!

I was wondering if there's a trope for a character who doesn't usually smile (or only smiles in a scary / intimidating way) but for whatever reason WILL smile sincerely at only one other character - the character they have a crush on, the Morality Pet, a family member, whatever. It always touches my heart when a grumpy and / or emotionally distant and / or scary character has a different brand of smile for a specific character that's in some way close to their heart. (Doesn't have to be in a romantic way).

I read through the Smile Tropes page and the Heartwarming Moments page and didn't find anything that fit the above description perfectly. The only tropes I could find that sort of come close to what I mean are:

1. Smile of Approval. However, this trope focuses on the specific reason for the smile given (approval) and I found myself thinking it might be nice if there was a trope page collecting ALL examples of characters who don't usually smile giving a sincere smile to another character for WHATEVER reason, be it approval or love or anything else. (I'm soppy, so sue me XD)

2. When She Smiles. However, this trope focuses more on how other characters in-universe react to the (rarely seen) smile. The trope I'm talking about (which of course might not....actually...exist) focuses more on the smile being directed at a single character, and it's not important whether that character notices they are the recipient of that Rare Smile ™ or not, or what they think about being the recipient of this smile. I guess what I'm talking about has vibes of Single Target Sexuality but in this case it would be Single Target Affection.

I also checked the O.O.C. is serious business page, but all tropes collected here seem to focus on negative things and how characters act when there's impending danger, so I don't think I'm gonna find what I'm looking for there, either.

Defrosting Ice Queen / King might fit the bill in some respects, but this trope isn't narrowed down to only smiles, and also includes an element of time (the whole defrosting as characters get to know each other better set-up) and character development (going from haughty / frozen to kinder). The trope I mean - only showing a sincere smile to one other character - could also apply if a character stays the same personality-wise from the beginning to the end of the storyline they're in.

What do you all think? Do you know any tropes who fit what I'm talking about? If not, could there be some merit in starting a trope page like this collecting examples from all media, or is the defenition too vague? (Or, for that matter, too narrow because it focuses only on smiling?) Do you know any examples of usually non-smiling characters giving sincere smiles to only one other character?

If this trope doesn't already have a page and I just didn't succeed in finding it, I was thinking it might be fun to call it it A Different Brand of Smile, or maybe Single-Target Smiler. It might also have some merit to link this trope in the also see / closely associated with section of Tsundere, Defrosting Ice Queen / King, etc.

Sorry for the ridiculously long post and please excuse any grammatical errors, English isn't my first language. Would love to hear any and all recommendations of tropes that might fit my description and what you all think about possibly starting a trope page for this!

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